Watching Orfevre run, Fujiwara Chiya finally understood.
Her movements were swift, powerful, and fierce. But those alone weren't enough to bring out Orfevre's regal bearing, that overwhelming aura of a king. Form was only one part of it. What truly revealed an uma musume's style was presence.
When an uma musume's spirit, will, and body fused into one, that presence poured out naturally. So naturally, in fact, that Fujiwara Chiya had instinctively overlooked it.
Shirayuki could do it because, deep down, she was an uma musume. She clung to victory. She chased it with everything she had, and she was willing to pay any price for it. But Fujiwara Chiya, at his core, was a trainer. When he ran in races, the feeling inside him was closer to studying. To learning.
As long as he could train Shirayuki properly, that was enough. Whether he won or lost didn't matter. And because of that, Fujiwara Chiya had never been able to bring everything together. When he raced, he didn't have that burning desire to throw his entire soul at victory.
That was why he couldn't enter the Domain. He had no presence. He was just running on raw physical ability.
The moment he realized that, Fujiwara Chiya's eyes changed. To enter the Domain, he had to change how he thought. Right now, he was not a trainer. He was a competitor. An uma musume standing on the track, racing against Orfevre.
That's right. The one standing here now was not Fujiwara Chiya. It was the Snow Dancer!
As if sensing something, Orfevre turned her head. And there, she saw Fujiwara Chiya's sharpened, ice-cold gaze.
Thump!
Orfevre's heart kicked hard in her chest. A crushing pressure rolled off him. Her instincts as an uma musume screamed a warning, telling her the enemy before her was dangerous.
So you are finally getting serious?
The corners of Orfevre's lips curled up. She had always felt something was missing when she raced her trainer. Not because he lacked strength. No, that was never the problem. It was because there was no life-or-death tension in the race.
Every time she ran against him, even when she lost, the defeat felt strangely weightless. There was no pressure of a true powerhouse coming from him. He was like a block of wood that just happened to have strength.
Considering that a trainer's real job was not to stand on the track, Orfevre had never complained about it. She was not the sort to pick fights for no reason. As long as he taught her well, that was enough. She would not demand too much from him.
Ah, right. And he had to spend time with her.
As her trainer, he was naturally obligated to accompany his own uma musume. Orfevre demanded that he set aside a little time each week to go out with her. That was the duty he owed as her retainer, and as her trainer.
Now then, back to the matter at hand.
Seeing Fujiwara Chiya suddenly radiate pressure, Orfevre turned forward again. In that case, she would have to show him her true ability too!
Back when Orfevre had raced Fujiwara Chiya, he had slammed into her head-on and knocked her out of that strange sensation. Afterward, her trainer had found her and explained what that strange feeling was. It was a flow state achieved when one's control over the body reached a certain level, when mind, energy, and spirit aligned at a high degree. Commonly known as the Domain.
Fujiwara Chiya had told her to remember that feeling clearly, then try to recreate it while running. But that kind of sensation was not something one could simply call up at will. How could it be so easy?
Later, Fujiwara Chiya had taught her a method. Imagine that she was racing against an opponent. Then exaggerate that opponent's strength. Keep that person ahead of her at all times. That would help her concentrate.
Orfevre gave it a try. She imagined her opponent as the Empress. Then she let the Empress run ahead of her.
In that instant, Orfevre's heart pounded. Her pupils shrank violently. Her entire mind pulled taut like a single drawn wire.
The Empress!!
Her vision darkened. The feeling in her body vanished. By the time Orfevre came back to herself, she had already charged more than two hundred meters without stopping for even an instant.
That was the first time Orfevre had entered the Domain. It had only lasted a few seconds. But in those few seconds, she had stepped into some mysterious, transcendent state. She could no longer remember the details, yet that feeling of rising beyond herself had remained in her body. Orfevre had savored it ever since.
Her talent ranked among the very top of all uma musume. That was not Orfevre bragging. She truly had that level of ability. Orfevre was not arrogant. She simply refused to be falsely modest.
Feeling the pressure radiating from Fujiwara Chiya, Orfevre finally felt the urgency of a real race. Her opponents in the past had been far too weak. She had never needed to go all out against them, much less enter the Domain. That was why Orfevre had placed her focus on her trainer.
Now that weightless feeling was gone. At long last, Orfevre tasted battle.
Trainer, today is the day you fall before me!
Her heart beat with tremendous force. Orfevre's speed suddenly surged, and she pulled away from Fujiwara Chiya. As long as she defeated her trainer, he would become hers completely. And Shirayuki, as his younger sister, would naturally become her subject as well.
Hmph. Making the Empress my subject… not bad at all.
Orfevre's mind gradually unified. The world began to shrink in her eyes. Just as she was about to grasp that feeling—
"Huuuu—"
It sounded as though someone had taken a breath. A long, deep inhale, as if they were about to suck all the air from the entire training ground.
Orfevre's body jolted to a halt for the briefest instant. With disbelief in her eyes, she looked back.
And then Orfevre saw them.
A pair of black eyes, so deep they held not even a single trace of light.
How… is that… possible…?
That presence. That heaven-shaking presence—
It was the Domain!
Orfevre saw the Domain on her trainer!
At the edge of the training field, Shirayuki clutched her forehead. Her vision washed white. A moment later, she lost control completely and collapsed face-first onto the ground.
The students nearby froze for half a second. Then their souls nearly flew out of their bodies as they rushed toward Shirayuki in a panic.
The two people racing noticed none of it. Fujiwara Chiya stared straight ahead, the soul of an uma musume boiling inside his body. At this moment, he felt that he was not Chiya. He was Shirayuki. Using this body, she had created an entirely new Domain.
A Domain built on overwhelming, brutal power. A Domain that shook the track itself.
Feeling that terrifying pressure threatening to crush her whole, Orfevre clenched her teeth. Deep in her eyes, blue-violet flames ignited.
Like hell I'm handing you victory!
In an instant, her trainer's figure vanished. The distant finish line shrank into a tiny dot. Her sense of her own body slowly faded. Everything around Orfevre slowed to a crawl.
But in that sluggish world, a black shadow appeared beside her. Then, under Orfevre's own perception, it overtook her.
A sharp gust of wind tore past. Orfevre snapped back to reality. Through eyes blurred with sweat, she saw Fujiwara Chiya cross the finish line before her.
The man slowly came to a stop. Then he dropped to one knee with a heavy thud. He gasped for breath, huge mouthfuls of air tearing in and out of his lungs. Sweat poured from his body like a spring.
At last, he had successfully entered the Domain with his male body.